3 Ways to Harness the Science of Reading in Middle and High School

The majority of states in America have implemented policies mandating evidence-based or scientifically based reading instruction and made the “science of reading” (SoR) ubiquitous. Advocates cite the SoR as the solution to our nation’s literacy struggles.

The SoR is not, as it seems to indicate, “scientifically sound” or, for that matter, irrefutable; instead, as with all scientific inquiry, the continued discovery of the most effective practices for reading instruction is an iterative process that is dynamic and evolving. The good news is that educators can use what they’ve long known from SoR research and leverage their professional expertise to implement these tried-and-true strategies to improve student literacy outcomes.

Prioritize Knowledge Building

According to SoR, prior knowledge plays a pivotal role in reading fluency; that is, a reader’s ability to decode and comprehend is directly impacted by their familiarity with the topic and its content-specific vocabulary. Educational thought leader Natalie Wexler explores the importance of prior knowledge in her book The Knowledge Gap, but it can be understood very simply by considering how comprehension is enhanced when engaging with a familiar topic.

Although high-quality instructional materials provide this in abundance, any well-designed curricular unit can do the same, especially when it’s organized around a compelling essential question.

For example, ninth graders can explore the question, “How does your background shape your identity and worldview?” English language arts teachers can offer a diverse set of novels, short stories, and poetry, supplemented by interdisciplinary nonfiction texts to build schema and support student inquiry.

Novels

• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sánchez
• Patron Saints of Nothing, by Randy Ribay
• The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
• The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros

Short stories

• “The Embassy of Cambodia,” by Zadie Smith
• “Names/Nombres,” by Julia Álvarez
• “The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories,” by Ken Liu
• “Peking Duck,” by Ling Ma

Nonfiction topics

• The immigrant experience
• Code-switching
• Assimilation
• Generational trauma
• Generational divides
• Exploited labor
• Systemic socioeconomic inequality
• Gentrification and redlining

For students to grow as readers, it’s important for them to engage with interdisciplinary texts across genres to build vocabulary, cultural literacy, scientific understanding, and global awareness.

In his 2025 book, To Read Stuff You Have to Know Stuff, educator Kelly Gallagher offers numerous practical ideas for building student knowledge. For example, Gallagher suggests posting a “Word of the Day” and its definition on the board as a daily reminder that “words are cool.” You may also be familiar with his long-standing Article of the Week, which offers current-events articles curated for students, with interactive prompts.

Additionally, teachers can help students cultivate their personal reading identity by ensuring that students always have a book they are currently reading and supporting them to keep an ongoing list of books they want to read next. When students have access to books with topics, authors, genres, and forms that uniquely appeal to them, they are more likely to want to read. For reinforcement and enrichment, teachers can guide students to explore unit essential questions and apply their new skills to their independent reading.

Ensure Access to Rigorous Grade-Level Texts

Another tenet of SoR is that all students must have access to grade-level texts. As literacy educator Timothy Shanahan explains, “Students are likely to learn more from working with challenging texts” than from high-interest or less difficult texts. Sadly, the past practice of guiding students to read books at their reading level often had the unintended consequence of hindering their ability to achieve grade-level reading benchmarks.

Students’ reading abilities in the same classroom can vary widely, so differentiated instruction is essential for ensuring that all students can access grade-level texts. When teaching whole-class texts, this may mean providing unfamiliar vocabulary and definitions, chunking texts and choosing excerpts for close reading, and creating intentional groupings for collaboration during analysis so students can benefit from each other’s strengths and varied perspectives. Many knowledge-rich grade-level texts become easier for students when teachers provide information about historical context, social norms, political systems, and cultural beliefs. As text complexity increases, teachers can also deliver mini-lessons to clarify specialized vocabulary, references and allusions, literary conventions, diverse perspectives, and other nuances that support deeper understanding.

Another way to promote engagement with grade-level texts is to engage students in a read-aloud. In her book Read-Alouds for All Learners, educator Molly Ness defines a read-aloud as “a shared literacy experience engaging children and adults in conversation and engagement around a high-quality text.” She explains that read-alouds, when conducted with appropriate pacing and expression, support social interactions and ignite “a passion for lifelong reading habits” as they lighten students’ cognitive load without the need to decode or read fluently, and thus provide more space in their working memory to engage with the content.

For read-alouds, Ness advocates selecting recent, high-interest texts with diverse topics, formats, authors, and characters, and created a template for planning read-alouds along with implementation strategies across grade levels and disciplines. At their best, teachers perform the read-alouds to create a more personalized, interactive experience. However, if you want to experiment, try this guided, scaffolded read-aloud template with Jason Reynolds as he reads his essay “Between Us: A Reckoning With My Mother” on a podcast.

Use Assessment Data to Inform Instruction

SoR emphasizes administering frequent formative assessments and using this data to inform instruction. These quick, low-stakes checks for understanding identify which students are still developing the requisite knowledge and skills, so that teachers can provide targeted intervention to close learning gaps. This assessment data can also reveal trends in student performance, uncover skills that need additional reinforcement, and inform how teachers might group students based on complementary strengths.

Formative assessments are most effective when they’re easy to implement and score, so that teachers can adapt instruction in response to students’ needs. For example, teachers can quickly assess student understanding with a thumbs-up or thumbs-down gesture and listen in on students’ conversations to identify misconceptions. Identify a few formative assessment strategies that work for you, and use them consistently.

Educational technology products available for purchase, such as Formative, offer multiple assessment opportunities and disaggregated data so teachers can pinpoint individual students’ needs and respond accordingly. If, based on assessment data, teachers identify students who consistently struggle to meet benchmarks despite targeted intervention, the data may ultimately suggest involving stakeholders through a Multi-Tiered System of Supports or intervention measures beyond the classroom.

Fortunately, teachers can exercise their creativity and professional judgment to implement evidence-based practices in their classrooms to improve students’ literacy outcomes. Nothing is more impactful than teachers who leverage the latest research to meet students’ needs, coupled with their knowledge, skills, care, and compassion.